Star Search (Singaporean season 9)


Star Search 2007 is the 9th installment of Star Search. It marked the return of the talent-search program. From May 2007, Star Search 2007 travelled to China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore in its search for new talents.

Auditions

Eager to be the next big thing, 1,500 people flocked to the auditions. Talent cuts across geographical boundaries and, as such, there is no restriction on the number to be shortlisted for each region.
The numbers are broken down this way:
CountryNo. of applicants
Shanghai200
Malaysia300
Singapore800
Taiwan200

Format

Two contestants will be removed from the talent quest each week, with no chance of a revival.

There will be four weeks of preliminary rounds, two weeks of quarter finals; one week of semi-final and grand final each.

Contestant information

IndexNameChinese NameCountryDate Of EliminationStatus
F1Yap Wei Chee Tracy叶惠慈Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur28 August 2007Eliminated
F2Pan Hung Hsi Celia潘虹熹Taipei, Taiwan4 November 20072nd Runner-up
F3Zhou Ying周颖China, Shanghai25 September 2007Eliminated
F4Pan Pei Yun Priscilla潘姵澐Singapore28 August 2007Eliminated
F5Goh Hwee Li Jeneen吴惠丽Singapore21 October 2007Eliminated
F6Lin Peiqi Angel林佩琪China, Shanghai11 September 2007Eliminated
F7Ya Hui雅慧Singapore4 November 2007Runner-up
Ms Telegenic
F8Tracy Lee李美玲Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur21 October 2007Eliminated
F9Leow Yin Ning Jvnne廖尹宁Singapore11 September 2007Eliminated
F10Neo Wei Zhi Iren梁溦芝Singapore2 October 2007Eliminated
M1Chang Hao Yi张昊艺Taipei, Taiwan25 September 2007Eliminated
M2Chang Kay Yong Marcus张家荣Singapore4 September 2007Eliminated
M3Huan Kuan Chieh Reeve黄冠捷Taipei, Taiwan4 September 2007Eliminated
M4Jerry Yeo杨伟烈Singapore4 November 20071st Runner-up
Most Popular
M5Andie Chen陈邦鋆Singapore-CHAMPION
M6Desmond Tan陈泂江Singapore4 November 2007Runner-up
M7Chang Hao Ying张昊颖Taipei, Taiwan2 October 2007Eliminated
M8Tan Sia Chong Jackson陈侠中Singapore4 November 2007Runner-up
Mr Personality
M9Lin Kelun林克伦Singapore18 September 2007Eliminated
M10Khor Jia Young Raynard许嘉洋Malaysia, Penang18 September 2007Eliminated

Contestant mentors

Another new element this year is the introduction of MediaCorp artistes as mentors to the contestants. The responsibility of the artistes is to teach and they are also required to showcase the best qualities of their charges to the judges and audience.
MentorFemale ContestantMale Contestant
Chen HanweiF5 吴惠丽M6 Desmond Tan
Edmund ChenF1 叶惠慈M9 林克伦
Huang WenyongF8 Tracy LeeM8 陈侠中
Rayson TanF4 潘姵澐M7 张昊颖
Tay Ping HuiF2 潘虹熹M4 Jerry Yeo
Zheng GepingF9 廖尹宁M5 Andie Chen
Chen LipingF7 许雅慧M1 张昊艺
Hong HuifangF6 林佩琪M3 黄冠捷
Huang BirenF3 Zhou YingM10 许嘉洋
Ivy LeeF10 梁溦芝M2 张家荣

Judges

In this 9th installment, the judging panel which will be made up of professionals from the industry. Moreover, this year the judges will have a 100% say over the eventual winners.
JudgesDescription
郭令送
Kok Len Shoong
新传媒华文戏剧制作部高级副总裁
Senior Vice President
郎祖筠
Liang Zhuyun
台湾著名艺人
Acclaimed Taiwanese television/screen/stage actress-host; The 43rd Golden Horse awards judge member
万梓良
Alex Man
曾经获得金马奖影帝荣衔的资深艺人
Golden Horse Best Actor Award winner and veteran Hong Kong actor
张坚庭
Alfred Cheung
香港著名的电影电视编剧、导演、制片兼演员
A Hong Kong actor/director who has been in the entertainment industry since 1980
陈子谦
Royston Tan
Singapore's very own talented director who has directed box office movie, 881.

Judging criteria

Retaining its original format of a large-scale talent-search program, Star Search 2007 will incorporate new elements.

Awards and prizes

TitlePrizes
ChampionTrophy + $25,000 cash + $4,000 worth of products + 2-year contract
1st runner-upTrophy + $12,000 cash + $2,000 worth of products
2nd runner-upTrophy + $5,000 cash + $1,000 worth of products
Runners-upEach $1,000 cash + $1,000 worth of products
Ms Telegenic$5,000 worth of jewellery
Mr Personality$5,000 worth of jewellery
Most Popular$5,000 worth of jewellery

Ms Telegenic and Mr Personality subsidiary awards are decided by the judges.

Most Popular subsidiary award will be determined by public voting.

Episodic details

Episode 1 - Grand Debut (21 Aug 2007)

Gracing the occasion was Dr Balaji Sadasivan, the Senior Minister of State for Information, Communications and the Arts。

Episode 2 - Preliminary Round 1 (28 Aug 2007)

20 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

5 female contestants competed in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

3 contestants moved on to Quarter Final 1.
The talent segment will be set in a club in the 1920-30s and features MediaCorp actor Adam Chen as narrator.

The acting segment will also be set in the same era but will take place in a shopping street instead.

MediaCorp actress Ng Hui will play a wealthy girl out shopping with her curry-favouring maid.
As the LAST TWO ranking were not shown, F4 and F1 assumed to be the 4th and 5th position respectively.
IndexNameTalent SegmentActing SegmentOverall RankingStatus
F1Tracy YapDance-cum-taekwondo pieceCurry-favouring maid5Eliminated
F2Celia PanJazz performance on drumsQuick-thinking girl1IN
F3Kola ZhouSinging Yong Yuan De Wei XiaoRough and uncultured salesgirl2IN
F4Priscilla PanSalsa danceInflexible salesgirl4Eliminated
F5Jeneen GohPlay Ye Shanghai on the pianoBlur salesgirl3IN

Episode 3 - Preliminary Round 2 (4 Sept 2007)

Both talent segment and acting segment will be set in the 1920-30s.

MediaCorp veteran actor Liang Tian will be appearing in the talent segment.

As for the acting segment, the story is featuring 5 neighbors living under one roof in a building.

MediaCorp actress Pan Lingling making a guest appearance as Jerry's shrewd wife.
IndexNameTalent SegmentActing SegmentOverall RankingStatus
M1张昊艺 Chang Hao YiDancing reggaeMummy's boy1IN
M2张家荣 Marcus ChangPerforming a piece on the diziRighteous hooligan5Eliminated
M3黄冠捷 Reeve HuanSinging The Music Of The NightCynical artist4Eliminated
M4杨伟烈 Jerry YeoSinging Ai Shen De JianHen-pecked husband3IN
M5陈邦鋆 Andie ChenDancing hip-hopRich heir2IN

Episode 4 - Preliminary Round 3 (11 Sept 2007)

16 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

5 female contestants competed in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

3 contestants moved on to Quarter Final 2.
Both talent segment and acting segment will be set in the 1940-50s.

The talent segment will feature a movie company interviewing for a movie actress with Star Search alumna Priscelia Chan making a guest appearance.

The acting segment will feature 5 students going on a field trip co-starring with MediaCorp actor Zhang Wen Xiang as their teacher.
IndexNameTalent SegmentActing SegmentOverall RankingStatus
F6林佩琪 Lin PeiqiTap DancingKiasu Student4Eliminated
F7雅慧 Ya HuiChinese Satin DanceCalculative Student1IN
F8李美玲 Tracy LeeTongue Twistering Man Tian XingVain Pot Student2IN
F9廖尹宁 Jvnne LeowPlaying a CelloSlow Reacting Student5Eliminated
F10梁溦芝 Iren NeoPlaying Love Story/Yankee Doodle on YangQinBoastful Tomboy3IN

Episode 5 - Preliminary Round 4 (18 Sept 2007)

14 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

5 male contestants competed in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

3 contestants moved on to Quarter Final 2.
IndexNameTalent SegmentActing SegmentOverall RankingStatus
M6陈泂江 Desmond TanBartender ShowSissy Personal Assistant1IN
M7张昊颖 Chang Hao YingLocking DanceSarcastic Reporter3IN
M8陈侠中 Jackson TanBazil WushuMain Editor2IN
M9林克伦 Lin KelunSingingTimid Assistant5Eliminated
M10许嘉洋 Raynard KhorPlay DrumsPhotographer Who Demands His Ways4Eliminated

Episode 6 - Quarter Final 1 (25 Sept 2007)

12 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

3 male and female contestants will compete in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

4 contestants moved on to Semi Final.

Episode 7 - Quarter Final 2 (2 Oct 2007)

10 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

3 female and male contestants competed in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

4 contestants moved on to Semi Final.
This week, the remaining contestants will travel back time to the colourful time in the 1970s.

Contestants will perform a song-and-dance item to the tunes of Beautiful Sunday and Qiao He which are hits songs back in the 1970s.
As for the acting segment, 3 contestants will act in a skit taking place at Feng Feng Cafe.

Skit 1 involves contestants F6 Lee Mei Leng, M4 Chang Hao Ying and M6 Jackson Tan.

Quan Yi Fong guest-stars as the gossipy café boss Feng Jie.

Skit 2

Episode 8 - Star Search Prelude ( 9 Oct 2007)

Episode 9 - Semi Final ( 21 Oct 2007)

8 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

4 female and male contestants competed in this episode.

2 will be eliminated.

6 contestants moved on to Grand Final.

Episode 10 - Grand Final (4 Nov 2007)

6 contestants remained in the competition at this stage.

2 female and 4 male contestants competed in the final.

5 will be eliminated.

1 will be crowned the champion.
Apart from the 10 mentors Zheng Geping, Huang Wenyong, Chen Liping, Chen Hanwei, Tay Ping Hui, Huang Biren, Ivy Lee, Hong Huifang, Edmund Chen and Rayson Tan, Star Search alumni Zoe Tay, Chew Chor Meng, Ix Shen, Felicia Chin, Vivian Lai and Yao Wenlong attended the Grand Final. In addition, Taiwanese band Energy made a special guest appearance.
In this critical stage of the competition, the current panel will increase to a total of 6 judges. Besides the 3 resident judges, Taiwanese artiste Lang Tzu-yun, Hong Kong director Alfred Cheung and Senior Vice President of Chinese Drama Kok Len Shoong, Hong Kong actor Kenny Bee, local artiste Fann Wong and Deputy Group CEO Chang Long Jong will also be accessing the finalists in their performances.
There will also be three subsidiary awards for the six Finalists to compete in: Ms Telegenic Award, Mr Personality Award, and Most Popular Award